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CARROLLTON – Civic Memorial sophomore Allie Troeckler was named MVP and the Eagles were runner-up at the 41st annual Carrollton Invitational.

The Calhoun Warriors were the girls basketball tournament’s champions because of their unnamed MV3.

With juniors Emma Baalman and Kassidy Klocke, and sophomore Grace Baalman all earning all-tourney recognition, the Warriors rolled to a 54-44 victory over CM in Saturday night’s championship game.

It is the first tourney championship at Carrollton for the Warriors, who celebrate their season’s third tourney title after winning at Alton and Jersey. Calhoun is a four-time runner-up at Carrollton.

“It’s really exciting,” Klocke said of the program’s first title here, “It’s a big accomplishment to know that we stepped up and finally won it.”

Klocke did much of the heavy lifting to dethrone CM, which pounded Calhoun 75-42 in last season’s Carrollton title game. The 6-foot Klocke scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the second half and Calhoun extended its winning streak to 20 straight while improving to 24-2. CM drops to 19-6.

The Eagles cut a 12-point third-quarter deficit to two points in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors responded like a team underrated with a No. 5 ranking in the Class 1A state poll. Klocke scored six straight points and Emma Baalman got a bucket off a Klocke assist as the Warriors grew the lead back to double digits (50-40) and finished off the Eagles.

Calhoun, which also defeated CM in the Jersey Tournament, shook off the Eagles’ best shot in the first quarter and took a 27-21 lead to halftime despite Emma Baalman sitting 12-plus minutes with two fouls.

“That’s what’s interesting about this team,” Calhoun coach Aaron Baalman said. “Emma gets in foul trouble – or one of the big three gets in foul trouble – and we get somebody to come off the bench and spark us.”

The Warriors got winning plays from Madison Lehr, Courtney Holland, Becca Oswald, Jordan Holland and Junie Zirkelbach, but it was Klocke, Grace Baalman and Emma Baalman that overpowered the Eagles.

Klocke hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter when the Warriors built a lead that grew as large as 12 points. Klocke went 4 of 9 from 3-point range. “With her length,” coach Baalman said, “it’s a mismatch nightmare.”

The 6-2 Grace Baalman added 14 points and 14 rebounds, and 6-1 Emma Baalman chipped in eight points and six rebounds after a quiet first half. That production, well off the scoring averages for both cousins, was good news for CM.

“If you’d have told me that before the game,” Denney said, “I’d have said, yeah, we’d have won by 10. But Klocke stepped up and made some huge shots for them when the other kids were struggling. That’s why they’re probably going to win a state championship in 1A, or push for one.

“They’re a really good team, regardless of class. Hat’s off to them, they earned it.”

CM led 18-14 late in the first quarter with Emma Baalman on the bench for a period that would consume the remainder of the first half. But CM could not capitalize and Calhoun won the second quarter 11-3.

“We get a Baalman out with two fouls and we get three points,” said Denney, whose Eagles were 1 of 12 from the field in the second quarter. “If you’re going to beat a team like that, you’ve got to make some shots. … I just don’t think we took advantage of that second quarter.

“That was the time to go. Instead of going into the locker room down six, I felt like we should have been the team going in up six or eight. But that’s the way it goes some nights.”

CM used a 9-0 run with five points from Kaylee Eaton and four from Troeckler to close within 40-37 in the opening seconds of the third quarter. Journey Coffman banked in a 3-pointer to cut the Warriors lead to 42-40, but Calhoun responded with the game’s next eight points in a 12-4 closing run.

Tournament Most Valuable Player Troeckler led the Eagles with 12 points and seven rebounds. Junior Katelyn Turbyfill also scored 13 points for CM. The Eagles shot 34 percent (18 of 53) from the field, including 5 of 19 from the arc, and made 3 of 6 free throws. CM made 15 turnovers, while Calhoun committed 13 turnovers. Calhoun made 45 percent (25 of 56) of its shots. The Warriors were 4 of 15 from 3-point territory and missed their only free-throw attempt.

The all-tourney team also included CM’s Turbyfill and Kalyn Troxell, Carrollton’s Maddie Struble and Madison Mountain, Jersey’s Lia Roundcount, North Greene’s Destyne Powell and Arika Hull, and West Central’s Abby Lashmett

Winchester West Central 71, North Greene 54 – Lashmett scored 29 points and Kayla Moore had 21 off five 3-pointers to help the Cougars past the Spartans in the third-place game.

West Central, the No. 1 seed in its own Class 1A Regional, is 18-7. North Greene is 15-10 and the No. 3 regional seed at Winchester. Destyne Powell scored 16 points and Tabitha Hawk had nine for the Spartans.

Carrollton 42, Metro East Lutheran 35 – The Hawks reached 20 wins for the third successive season by beating the Knights for fifth place. It is the first time Carrollton has strung together three straight 20-win seasons since posting the last of 11 in a row while winning a Class A state title in 2002.

Struble scored 14 points, Mountain had 12 and Rachel Williams had nine points for the 20-6 Hawks, who led 25-7 at halftime. Marquette got eight points apiece from Andria Pace and Caitlyn Hanlon.

Metro East Lutheran 40, Jacksonville Routt 35 – MEL won the consolation title beating the Rockets. Abby Yurchuck scored 15 points and Emilee Marcuzzo had 13 for the Knights, who led 24-15 at halftime.